CHESTER MAKES FATALITY FREE PLEDGE IN CANBERRA
May 30, 2013
The Nationals Member for Gippsland and Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Roads and Regional Transport Darren Chester is urging community members to help prevent any deaths on local roads tomorrow by signing up to Fatality Free Friday.
Mr Chester met with founder and Chief Executive Officer of the Australian Road Safety Foundation (ARSF) Russell White at Parliament House in Canberra and signed the Fatality Free Friday pledge.
Mr Chester said Fatality Free Friday, an initiative setup by the ARSF in 2007, was recognised as Australia’s only ‘national community based road safety program’.
He said an average of five people die on Australian roads each day.
“While we have come a long way in terms of lowering the national road toll, one death is too many,” Mr Chester said.
“By working together we can reduce the road toll through a range of measures, including improved driver behaviour.
“Fatality Free Friday is about all road users making a conscious effort to focus on road safety and preventing five people from unnecessarily losing their lives.”
Mr Chester said the key message of the Fatality Free Friday campaign needed to be reinforced and carried out by drivers on a full-time basis.
“Campaigns such as Fatality Free Friday put the spotlight on the importance of road safety but we mustn’t consider it to be a one-off event,” Mr Chester said.
“By taking care and driving responsibly every day we can make a long-term difference and reduce the road toll.”
Over 44,000 Australians have already signed up to the Fatality Free Friday campaign which is being supported by Caltex, Suncorp Insurance, the Queensland State Government, QueenslandRail and Monroe Shock Absorbers.